Monday, May 10, 2010

Ham Chim Peng/Ham Cheem Peng - Salty Fried Chinese Bread

I don't really know how to translate Ham Chim Peng to english...or swedish (fritera salt bröd?) for that matter but I do know my dad likes it and he buys a couple when he goes fishing on weekends. He has, however, been complaining about the price of it - from 40 cents till 80 cents I think, so maybe, just maybe I may make it for him when I go back. However, this requires kind of a starter dough, so start this process 2 days in advance.

It's not my recipe, but it is from Lily Wai's blog, she has tried different recipes so I felt fairly confident of hers and the only thing I adjusted was halve the amount and take a bit more photos of the in-between stage for those of you who wish to tried it.

What I found surprising was the use of toufu lu/fermented toufu/toufu cheese - but I was glad to have brought that along because I used it to make chap cai too (post coming up next). The jian sui/alkaline water can probably be skipped if you can't find it, but I was prepared for it so it was pretty much just following the recipe for this. It was worth it though :)

Mix all the dough ingredients well before adding in the starter. You should get a very soft and kinda sticky mixture.

Cover the dough and rest for 20 minutes.

After resting, use a spatula to bring the dough from the sides into the center and continue to do this until the dough is smooth. Rest 20 minutes again and do the folding and resting 3 more times.

Rub some oil on the surface of dough, cover and let it proof for another 2 - 3 hours. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of 5 spice powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and mix into the dough before using.

Proofed dough

Flour generously onto the surface where you are going to roll out the dough before pouring it out.

Divide the dough into two portions - one for the salty version, one for the sweet version.

Roll the first portion of dough into a rectangle. Spread the blended salty filling on and roll up like a swiss roll.

Salty version filling

Slice the swiss roll dough into 1/2 inches slices and flatten it further with the palm of your hand or by stretching it gently just before you fry it.

Rolled up like a swiss roll

And flattened before frying

For the other portion of dough, divide it into ping pong ball size portions. Flatten each portion with the palm of your hand and place a dollop of red bean paste in the middle, and seal up the dough ball thoroughly.

Let them rest for another 10 minutes before heating up the oil on medium heat and fry them one or two at a time depending on how big your pot is. The oil level should be about half of the pot you are using.

Before frying each piece, flatten or stretch them further with your hand gently and be careful when you place them in the oil. For the sweet version, press some sesame seeds in the middle of the dough pieces before frying it.

Once you place the dough in the oil, use a long chop sticks and rotate it round and you should see the dough puffing up. Once it floats to the top, use the chopsticks and turn it over frequently till it is golden brown on all sides.

Sprinkle with salt while still hot (optional - if you like a saltier taste) for the salty version.